Fallen
by Icka M. Chif
Summary: Aoko had a dream last night...


Fallen

By Icka! M. Chif

_I fly so high..._

_Then fall so low._

"Signs of Love" by Moby

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

I had a dream last night. 

There was a man flying above the city, wings holding him aloft and out of reach from the crowd of people below. The wings shifted as I watched, from glowing white feathered wings to bat wings as dark as coal to something that was neither. 

The people below called out, reaching for him. Some called him an angel. Some called him a deamon. Others called him a fey. But he was neither. He simply... was.

And he was joyful.

Then the crowd changed. Chains flew up from the crowd, narrowly missing hitting him. He dodged, the chains flying closer and closer, until one wrapped itself around him. Then another, and another. Until they dragged him down, the bonds cutting into his flesh, making it bleed, sending rivulets of crimson cascading down his body, raining down on the people. They pulled harder, tearing his wings from him and branding him.

And he cried, reaching a hand out to me.

That's when I woke up. 

My Dad burst into the room and informed me that they had captured the Kaito Kid.

The Kid had been standing on the corner of a rooftop, gawking at the moon like an idiot, allowing him and his men to sneak up on him un-noticed. The Kid noticed a second too late, and jumped off the building, activating his hang-glider to escape. His men hand used nets to ensnare him and bring him to the ground. 

Once they had him on the ground, the thief had offered no resistance. He did what they ordered without a word, his eyes closed and a small eerie smile on his face that would have done Xelloss proud.

They handcuffed him, and after that, anything that could go wrong, did.

The car they put him in to go to the station suddenly got a severe flat tire. The next car they put him in developed engine trouble. A third ran out of gas, the hose leading from the gas tank had somehow disconnected itself. The fourth car made it to the station, only to break down in the parking lot. 

The computer system crashed when they tried to enter him into it. When they tried to enter him in manually, the correct forms couldn't be found. Pens ran out of ink and pencils kept breaking whenever they tried to simply write things down.

They finally just put him in a room and attempted to unmask him. The light bulbs abruptly burnt out when they attempted to remove his hat the first time. On the second attempt, there was a station wide black out. 

That was about the time that one of the rookies pointed out that the street lights had kept going out when ever they passed under them. Even the hall lights had been dimming when he passed under them.

They didn't attempt a third time.

So they tried to disarm him of his tricks. The first person who tried got his fingers caught in a mouse trap. A flock of doves burst out of his jacket when they tried to open it, flying around the room and causing chaos until they disappeared back into the Kid. Then there was the cloud of smoke, followed by the cloud of cards, streamers and confetti. 

A snake hissed at them from his sleeve cuff when they tried to remove his gloves. They did get his cape off, not that it did much.

When he started to taunt the Kid about his capture to get a reaction out of him, the Kid began to snore.

All and all, it was a most un-satisfying capture for Dad. He finally caught the Kaito Kid, but it seemed a hollow victory. The Kid wasn't acting like the Kid.

So he had posted several guards to watch the thief and came home to sleep. I suppose that I should have felt more cheerful for Dad's victory, but the dream remained in my head, disturbing me. Dad didn't notice, he rarely does. He went to bed and I went to school.

Kaitou wasn't at school. The Kid's capture was all anyone would talk about, and I didn't feel like talking. The day passed by slowly.

I called his house to see if everything was alright, and his Mom said that he had come down with something and couldn't talk. There was a strained tone to her voice that told me something wasn't right, but I something told me not press the issue. I volunteered to give him his assignments tomorrow instead. She didn't seem as pleased with that as she normally would have.

I went to bed early, the dream still haunting me.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

I had a dream last night. 

The fallen man reached a hand out to me, crying as his wings were torn from him and he was bound to the earth.

I cried for him in return, trying to reach him through the mass of people.

Our fingers brushed and he vanished. 

That's when I woke up.

My Dad burst into the room, demanding to know where his tie was, they were taking the Kaito Kid to court today.

I dressed quickly, skipping school to catch a ride with him to the police station. From there, I caught a ride with some of the officers I knew to the court house.

The front of the court house was packed with people, almost all of them shouting and screaming. Some of them had banners that they were waving. Some were cheering that the Kid had finally been captured, others were demanding to let him go. Others just seemed confused and were shouting because the others were. I'm pretty sure I heard at one point someone shouting about having a crustacean down their pants, but I hope I'm wrong. Having a lobster down their pants would be painful.

I stayed up near the front of the crowd, by the stairs to the building were some of the officers were just in case something happened. It was actually kind of dull for a while.

Then the Kid came. 

My father was escorting him, one hand on his shoulder as he glared at the crowd. The noise volume increased until it was almost unbearable, people pressing closer to get close to the Phantom Thief. As for the Kid himself, his expression didn't change. His hat shadowed his face, concealing his features from view. All that could be easily seen was the small quiet smile on his face.

Dad was right. It was creepy. He didn't seem to acknowledge what was going on. I wanted to shout, or scream, just blend in with the sea of movement that was crowd, but the past nights dreams stilled both my actions and my tongue. It didn't feel right, and I found myself wondering what I was doing there. It felt... wrong.

He walked up to the foot of the stairs then looked up, straight at me and I froze.

I -knew- those eyes. The familiarity stuck me like a chill. I had laughed with them, cried with them, raged with them, seen them happy and sad and all the extremes in between. They were as young as a new-born and as old as a mountain, all rolled into one azure gaze. 

"Keep it safe." I heard his voice whisper in my ears, a friendly voice with a touch of concern and pleading interwoven in it. "Please."

Then he stepped past.

I blinked, feeling like I was coming out of a daze and looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed anything at all, not even the slightest pause. When I turned to look at him again, the Kid's eyes were closed, as if nothing had happened.

Then I realised I was clutching something tightly in my hands. Feeling foolish, I un-clasped them.

I was holding the Kid's monocle. 

The Kid had already entered the doors, disappearing from my view so I couldn't tell if he was still wearing it or not. Not that I could have told when he was walking up, the way the upper half of his face had been in shadow. 

The rest of the court case seemed like a dream. I managed to slip into the room, sitting by my father, who was behind the Kid. The Kid didn't move, didn't speak, didn't respond. Not even when they attempted to take off his hat. It wouldn't budge, it might as well been cemented to his head.

Who knows? It might have been.

The case against him was actually more minor than I expected. With the exception of the City and the Police, no one was pressing charges against him. Those he had taken jewels from had eventually gotten their property back, often times cleaned and in better shape than he had taken them. And the value of them usually went up -because- they had been stolen from the famous Kid the Phantom Thief, so if nothing else they got a little bit of fame out of it. Failing that, their security was upgraded. The ones who might have pressed charges were in jail, because the jewels usually didn't belong to them in the first place.

In other words, it was several hours of people puffing themselves up and cursing at the Kid, who appeared to be asleep. I tuned most of it out, trying to figure out how I was holding the Kid's monocle.

The blustering finally wound down, the charges were set and a date was agreed on for a full trial. 

And my father escorted the Kid back out the doors, to where the crowd was still shouting. 

He paused a second time, in the shadows of the doorway, and this time, people noticed. He smiled, the bright smile that was his trademark, and turned toward my father. 

"One last trick, Inspector. For old time's sake."

Then he stepped forward into the light. 

The sound of a gun going off echoed out over the crowd, startling most into a brief silence. 

The Kid pitched forward, eyes wide as crimson blossomed from his chest. 

His clothes hit the ground, posed as if there was someone inside of them, but no body was inside of them to flesh them out. The Kid had simply vanished, leaving his clothes behind like a discarded husk.

People started screaming. Panic ensued.

My Father roared, a familiar outpouring of rage as he knelt down, turning the clothing over. There was 'clink' as a bullet fell out of a hole in the chest of the jacket, and a fine crimson sand gushed out after, covering the floor. A breeze flew past, picking up the sparkling scarlet dust and twirled it away. 

I thought about it a minute, then decided that it was time to go home. There was only so much bizarreness I could handle at one time before it all blurred together and I became numb.

And if I saw any streakers on the way home, well... I knew who it probably was.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

I went to bed early, but didn't sleep.

It was probably a good thing, or I might have missed the slight tapping on my window. I looked, and was surprised to see a white gloved hand wave at me. I blinked, rubbed my eyes and checked again. It was still there, somehow looking put off at my ignoring it. 

Upon opening the window, I was greeted by a Cheshire cat like grin from above. The Kaito Kid, alive and apparently well. He invited me up to the rooftop for a tea party, he'd even placed a ladder beside my window for easier access.

Who was I to say no to such generous, yet completely insane, offer? 

The Kid greeted me at the roof's edge, helping me up. He was dressed down, his tie loosen and sans cape, coat and hat. An empty gun holster I hadn't noticed before lay across his shoulders. The funny part was no matter how he moved, his face was always covered in a concealing shadow. There was also a vague impression of familiar untamed spiky hair, but nothing concrete.

I discovered the whereabouts of his cape as he escorted me to the tea party. It was spread out on the rooftop, a small platter of cakes and a teapot on top of it. I felt like Alice, from the English fairy tale.

He asked if I still had it, and to my surprise, I found that I still had his monocle clutched in my hand. In fact, I couldn't remember putting it down at all. He looked pleased when I held it out to him. 

He smiled, holding the bit of metal, glass and plastic up to the clear moonlight and looked thru it. I watched in silence, not to break the calm of the night. And for some reason, I didn't feel like I was faced with an enemy. Quite the opposite in fact. It was more that I was watching the stars with not exactly an old friend, but at least a friendly long term acquaintance. 

The strangeness must have gotten to me at that point, nothing surprised me anymore.

He finally turned to me, leaning forward and gently placing the monocle over my eye. I blushed as he played with the charm on the end of it for a moment, then leaned back to a polite distance and asked me what I saw. 

It seemed a strange question, but I was never one to back down from challenge. I looked around, noting that while everything still looked the same, my perception of it was alter slightly because I was now looking at it thru a piece of glass over one eye. 

I looked up, and saw the moon. It was still full, round and glowing like a pearl set into the sky with tiny sparkling diamonds tossed around in on a velvet background. 

The Kid agreed with me, tilting his head back to watch the moon as well. 

And then he began to speak. 

He spoke of many things, of murders and murderers, of jewels and thieves, of a search and of a gem named Pandora that bled immortality. 

He'd held the gem up to the moonlight, and been surprised it glowed, drops of liquid falling from it, splattering on the monocle and a drop falling onto his lips. He didn't want immortality, simply to stop those who killed to gain it. He had been even more surprised when it spoke to him. And that had been the distraction my father had needed to capture him. 

He'd been silent because he'd been inside of the gem, talking to Pandora itself. He knew why the gem wept. He had offered Pandora his help, and the gem had taken it. In order to for the gem to be destroyed, it required a willing sacrifice, something he had agreed to. The tear drop he had accidentally tasted wasn't enough to give him immortality, but enough to heal him after being shot. 

And what better irony than for the people seeking it to destroy it themselves?

He paused for a moment, then asked me in the same air that people talk about the weather if I believed in magic. 

I remembered my dreams and was silent.

The question itself was asked in a flippant tone, and yet I could not help but to feel that it was anything but. There was magic, like Kaitou did at school, tricks to make people laugh, and there was Magic. Real Magic, alive and aware. The kind that made things happen that there was no logical explanation for. The kind that made lights go out in passing, things appear when they shouldn't and bodies disappear, leaving their clothes behind.

Even without having seen it, I think I still would believe in it. I think I always have. 

The Kid read my answer in my face and smiled. Not one of his normal cocky grins, but a idyllic, almost serene expression. I think he needed the re-assurance that he wasn't alone in believing in Magic.

It faded and was replaced by his usual more energetic facade. To my slight surprise, I was mutually grateful and slightly disappointed when he assured me that one of the side benefits to his magic was that he could change clothes impossibly fast, thus saving him the embarrassment running around with out any clothes. 

It had seemed like a proper end for the Kid. With Pandora forever out of reach, there was no need for the Kid anymore. It was also rather hard to press charges against a dead man, he added with a grin. I scowled at him, but my heart wasn't in it. It also probably looked ridiculous with me still wearing his monocle, the charm from it swing around like a pendulum.

He laughed, and poured us tea, apologizing all the while for being a bad host. I wasn't sure if he actually counted as the host, seeing as it was my rooftop, but I played along with it. We sat and chatted, just small talk of no consequence as we watched the stars move across the night sky. 

It felt both strange and yet comfortably familiar at the same time, sitting on my rooftop, drinking tea with Kid the Phantom Thief, who was cautiously flirting with me. And I was flirting back. 

The realization that I was returning his attentions was enough to make me pause in confusion, a lapse he noticed and inquired as to what was wrong. Was it alright to feel so at ease with someone who was supposed to be an enemy? So I asked him. Why had he chosen me to share tea with, to watch over his monocle, which was obviously precious to him. Why trust -me-?

He leaned forward, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear in a gesture that seemed oddly intimate and cryptically commented that he just wanted me... to understand.

Before I could decipher that comment, or to ask him what he hoped I understood, he looked up at the stars and asked if I'd ever dreamt of flying in a soft dreamy voice. 

I tilted my head back, watching the stars as well, letting my confusion slip away like tufts of clouds through my fingers and remembered my dreams, both recent and ancient.

"Yes."

I didn't have to look to see my shadow hidden companion's smile. He sighed ruefully and commented that that was what he was really going to miss about being the Kid, was the ability to soar above it all. He was thinking of building another hang glider, black this time, just so that he could at night and loose himself in the night sky.

He asked if I would care to join him sometime. 

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

I had a dream last night. 

I was standing on a rooftop, watching the sky. There was a crowd below me, shouting and screaming, but I ignored them. They weren't important.

A man soared by, his wings stretched out to catch the breeze in the night sky. The people below started to scream louder. Some called him an angel. Some called him a deamon. Others called him a fey. But I knew better. He was neither. He simply... was. 

He smiled as he flew and reached a hand out to me, inviting me to join him. 

I smiled back and shook my head. I wasn't ready to join him, to fly. 

At least, not yet.

He nodded back, understanding. 

Soon.

I slept peacefully and no more dreams disturbed my rest.

-fin-

Notes:

Fey = Elf, or fairy.

Xelloss is from Slayers Next/Try, he's the Trickster Priest.

Yet another Not a Freakin' Clue fic. ~_~;; Parts of this may seem really deep and philosophical. Sorry. It's not intentional.

Story was inspired by several Japanese fan arts I have found of the Kaito Kid with wings, but the one that triggered it was on this site:

http://www.r20.7-dj.com/~marry/index.html

It's present 7, if you can find the Gallery. YAOI Warning for the gallery. (or as a friend would say: "Baby, Oh Baby!" followed by drooling)

Murphy's Law in effect - The only explanation I have is that Nature comes to his aid whenever he needs it. He is a Magician after all. ~_^

Lobster down the pants - Been waiting for the Darwin Awards to make an appearance in a fic. ^_^;;

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-53.html 

Um... don't read if you're squeamish. The guy doesn't die, he just kinda wishes he had... that had to hurt. o_O

Fic started sometime around 3 Sept 02

Ver. 1.1 12 Sept 02

Ver 1.2 26 Sept 02 – Did some minor tweaks and what not. Thanks to Loqi for pointing out 'latter' vs. 'ladder', thus making me get off my butt to fix it. #^^# 

Special thanks to Magik for fan art!!! (can I put that on my webpage?)


End file.
